Europe

Coping with the growing water needs of cities is one of the most pressing challenges of this century. Half of the world’s population now lives in cities and it’s estimated that within two decades that will increase to nearly 60% of the population, or 5 billion people. … | French | Spanish

The workshop “Preserving Natural Capital – Role and Action by the Food Retail Sector” will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 18th 2011, as part of the European Business & Biodiversity Campaign supported by the LIFE+ programme. Speakers from the private sector, governments and NGOs will present and discuss European case studies of biodiversity management in the retail sector. A focus of the workshop will be on measures to reduce companies’ impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems. Participation is free of charge. …

The year 2010 has been very challenging for the IUCN National Committee of The Netherlands (IUCN NL). With 70% of its funds at risk, IUCN NL was forced to make cuts to its budget and personnel. However after a tense period the appeal IUCN NL made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was approved. 2011 kicks off with a renewed and refocused strategy for IUCN NL with funds secured for the next 5 years. This puts the Committee in a strong position to make a difference for nature conservation abroad and in the Netherlands with its 35 members and its political and business network. …

IUCN's Europe Overseas Forum has been launched. It is an email discussion group, hosted on Google Groups, for everyone interested in advancing biodiversity and climate change action in the Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union (EU). …

A training workshop on the IUCN Red List was organized in Belgrade, by IUCN, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Serbia, and the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia within the Environment for People in the Dinaric Arc project. …

Without concerted conservation action, many of the planet’s turtles and tortoises, iconic survivors from the Age of Dinosaurs, will become extinct within the next few decades. That’s according to a new report from the Turtle Conservation Coalition, a global alliance of conservation groups, including the IUCN Species Survival Commission's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG), which names the world’s 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles. …

Leading scientific experts in the field of coastal and marine biogeochemistry, carbon dynamics and ecology gathered in Paris (15-17 February 2011) to discuss the role of coastal and marine ecosystems in the global carbon cycle and for climate change mitigation. This 3-day workshop was organized by IUCN together with Conservation International and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, with additional financial support from NASA and UNEP. …

An IUCN-led monitoring mission to the Lagoons of New Caledonia in the French Pacific Ocean archipelago, will look at how the site is managed, evaluate the impact of mining activities in the buffer zone and identify no-take zones. … | French